April 2016, Vol. 71 No. 4
Rehabilitation
Patent Awarded For System Aiming To Avert Lead Poisoning
The ongoing water crisis in Flint, MI, continues to shine a light into the dark, cumulative effects of lead consumption, particularly in young children and pregnant women. According to an extensive Flint crisis timeline compiled by Michigan’s Bridge Magazine, the problems began nearly two years ago when the state decided to cut costs by drawing their water from the Flint River, instead of Lake Huron. At the time, Flint was paying increasingly high water costs to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) for Lake Huron water.
The change was a temporary fix in a time of financial crisis for the city of Flint; in 2013, the city simply could no longer afford to pay rising Detroit water costs. The solution came by way of the Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA) – a pipeline project backed by several Michigan counties, including Genesee County, where Flint is located. Unfortunately for Flint residents, the pipeline’s projected completion date was well into 2016. The decision was made to pump water from Flint River, chemically treat it, and deliver it to residents. Flint then separated from DWSD and started pumping its own water in April 2014.
As details of the tragedy in Flint continue to emerge, cities, municipalities, and private sector businesses are working around the clock to ensure this never happens again. Pipe Restoration Technologies is one of those private sector companies aiming to cultivate a standard of nothing less than clean, safe potable water, with the implementation of their ePIPE process.
In early March 2016, the company announced it was awarded its 14th U.S. patent entitled Process for Coating the Interior Surface of Water Service Lines – Pipe Restoration Technologies, LLC (2016). U.S. Patent No. 9273815. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
This patent covers the in-place coating of metallic pipes including lead, copper and steel pipes, curing the resin in at least one hour. Pipe Restoration Technologies’ ePIPE assists in the reduction of lead leaking from lead pipes and other in-line lead contributors from leaching into the drinking water supply. Through the use of the ePIPE process, lead levels are reduced to well below the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines for lead; WHO’s guidelines are 50 percent lower than the recommendations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Flint’s water crisis has been attributed to lead leaching into the water which was then delivered to the city’s residents for drinking water; the ePIPE process from Pipe Restoration Technologies helps to avert this type of tragedy by preventing leaks and greatly reducing lead and metals from leaching into the drinking supply water.
The ePIPE technology is completed to pipes in-place, reducing the need for excessive digging and road disruption, as well as eliminating the need to tear up building foundations or walls. The new technology is a long-term solution that does not require the addition of costly and dubious water treatment chemicals. It provides an alternative to a destructive repipe by using an application of an epoxy barrier coating, resulting in a restored, epoxy lined piping system. This allows for a remedy for pinhole leaks, corrosion control and prevention of lead leaching from pipes with-out destruction or disruption encountered by pipe replacements. 888-775-0220, www.epipeinfo.com.
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